December 19, 2013 at 7:00 PM - Bethel Board of Education Special Meeting - Annual Meeting

Key Points of the Briefing:

1. The revised version of the policy includes harassment because forms of harassment often occur simultaneously with bullying (gay bashing, racial slurs, sexual harassment, etc.).These behaviors may cause a hostile learning environment for the victim that must not only be stopped, but must be re-dressed by the district if the district is found to be negligent.These behaviors may also activate victim protections under federal civil rights and anti-discrimination statutes; thus they cannot be minimized or ignored by the district’s schools.

    

2. The Board directs the administration to be vigilant in administering this policy because bullying is often a form of harassment, and there are “protected classes” of students covered by Title IX and other federal statutes.

    

3. Here are some resources you will find useful in furthering your understanding of the links between bullying and harassment:

Bullying and Harassment - http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/bullyingandharassment

Summary of the Briefing:

The earlier version of this policy has been in place for three years in the district.  The attached revision is necessary because the guidance from the State Department of Education and the Civil Rights Compliance Office makes it clear that bullying, cyberbullying, and harassment are to be very aggressively monitored and eradicated as they diminish students’ ability to learn in non-hostile, non-discriminatory environments.

In addition, at the Board’s December 10, 2013 subcommittee meeting, the Board asked for parents who serve as members of the District Safe School Climate Committee to sign a confidentiality agreement that enumerates confidentiality requirements of all committee members.  

Topic:   Updates and Changes for #5131.6 (Alcohol, Drugs, and Tobacco); #5131.1 (Smoking on a School Bus), #1331 (Smoke Free Environment); and #4118.231/#4218.231 (Drug and Alcohol Use and Possession)

Key Points of the Briefing:

1. In policy #5131.6, nicotine delivering devices (e-cigarettes) and the mechanisms for charging such devices are included in the list of banned smoking-related products;

    

2. In policy #5131.6, the use of medical marijuana by any 18 year old who holds a certificate authorizing the palliative use of marijuana, is still banned on a school bus, at school, or at a school-related event despite PA 12-55 (An Act Concerning the Palliative Use of Marijuana), because possession of marijuana remains illegal under federal law;

    

3. In policy #5131.1, the use of nicotine delivering devices are banned from all school buses;

    

4. In policy #1331, theuse of nicotine delivering devices and other smoking-related substances are banned from our facilities;

    

5. In policies #4118.231 and #4218.231, the use of medical marijuana is strictly prohibited at work by any employee holding a certificate authorizing the palliative use of medical marijuana;

    

6. In policies #4118.231 and #4218.231, the Board prohibits all smoking-related substances, including nicotine delivering devices by all employees.

Summary of the Briefing:

These four policies have been updated to address the use of nicotine delivering devices (e-cigarettes), the mechanisms for charging e-cigarettes, or the use of medical marijuana by students and employees.  Please see red print.     

 Key Points of the Briefing:

1. This curriculum had not been updated for many years, so the team worked on re-conceptualizing the curriculum and activities to make it more meaningful and relevant to students.
2. Teachers worked to align this course with the Common Core standards.Teacher further refined the Essential Questions within each unit of study.  
3. Assignments and assessments now reflect alignment with the CCSS.
4. Assessments such as the Argumentation Paper and the research projects were modified and developed to be more meaningful and to be CCSS aligned. 

Summary of the Briefing: 

The Introduction to Law and Civics curriculum was revised to update it, to make it more appealing and relevant to students, and to align the course outcomes with the Common Core standards. 

Key Points of the Briefing: 

1. The social studies teachers modified the assignments and assessments in this course to reflect alignment with the Common Core.
2. Emphasis was placed on the Gradual Release of Responsibility to Students model (GRR) and the provision of explicit teaching, modeling, and practice of the critical skills of the CCSS.
3. Time was spent and continues to be spent on the assessments section to build assessments that reflect the SMARTER Balanced Assessments and the need to ask Depth of Knowledge (DOK) 3 and 4 level questions.
4. The Capstone Project details will continue to be added into the document as we continue through this year.

Summary of the Briefing:

In order to align this curriculum to the Common Core and to include the Junior Year Capstone Project into this curriculum, the eleventh grade social studies made the changes detailed above.  

Key Points of the Briefing: 

1. This curriculum is now aligned with the Common Core State Standards. 
2. Assignments and assessments were also aligned with the Core. 
3. New units were added, and unit essential questions were updated or newly developed.
4. Pacing guide was updated.
5. Existing assessments were changed to reflect the greater rigor of the Common Core.  New assessments were developed for the new units of study.  More performance-based assessments were added to prepare students for the challenges ahead in the Smarter Balanced Assessments.
6. Teachers included practice SBAC performance-based assessments to be tracked—one per quarter—and they are refining these as a PLC throughout this year.

Summary of the Briefing: 

In order to align this curriculum to the Common Core, the tenth grade social studies made the changes highlighted above. 

Key Points of the Briefing: 

1. This curriculum is now fully aligned with the Common Core State Standards. 
2. Assignments and assessments were also aligned with the Core.  The teachers identified priority CCSS standards in reading, writing, and speaking/listening with the intention of focusing greater attention on these throughout the school year. 
3. Teachers included differentiated assignments and assessments to include in the curriculum in order to address the fact that level III has been eliminated.  (Only Honors and Level II exist now.)
4. Working with the special education department and the reading teacher, the social studies teachers updated their instructional episodes to include the Gradual Release of Responsibility to Students, explicit teaching of skills as well as content, the inclusion of modeling by teachers, and many practice assignments with the CCSS. 

Summary of the Briefing: 

In order to align this curriculum to the Common Core, the ninth grade social studies made the changes highlighted above. 

Key Points of the Briefing: 

1. This semester is the fourth course in the sequence for the Digital Academy program—a special program developed by the Center for 21^st Century Skills that presents science content and technology skills in real-world contexts in order to build students’ capacity for technical problem-solving.
2. The course uses cutting-edge technology and examines the disciplines of aerospace, civil, computer, electrical, and environmental engineering as a basis for problem-solving a variety of authentic problems facing the world today. 
3. The course objectives for Digital Engineering are:

• Examine the roles, duties and responsibilities, fundamental skills, and knowledge required in engineering and technology careers in modern industry,
• Become familiar with the major tools and techniques utilized by engineering technologists,
• Gain experience in written and oral technical communications on topics from engineering technologies.

Students will address authentic scientific problems by applying the eight essential scientific practices and the engineering practices:

1. Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
2. Developing and using models
3. Planning and carrying out investigations
4. Analyzing and interpreting data
5. Using mathematics, information and computer technology, and computational thinking
6. Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering)
7. Engaging in argument from evidence
8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

Summary of the Briefing:

This course is the final course in the Digital Academy program sequence at BHS.

Key Points of the Briefing: 

1. This semester course is for students who would like to continue learning and applying their science knowledge in their junior and senior years.
2. This course is an introduction to Astronomy.  Students will learn how to observe the sky we see and will learn how it changes over time.  Students will learn about the planets and other bodies in the solar system, and the structure and life cycle of stars.  Student will also study the Milky Way galaxy and galaxies beyond. 
3. The course objectives for Astronomy are:

• Gain an appreciation for the astronomical principles that affect our everyday lives, such as the motion of the moon and the Earth, and our relative position in the universe.
• Identify the major contributions of important scientists in the development in modern theories in astronomy.
• Classify stars according to physical, observable properties; understand how their distance is measured; and interpret wavelengths of emitted light to determine their composition.
• Learn the important features of each of the planets in the solar system, and compare these features to those of Earth.
• Study the motion of asteroids, comets, and meteorites, and recognize the effects of their collisions with other objects in the universe.

1. The following units will be covered in Astronomy:

Unit 1:  Introduction to Astronomy

Unit 2:  Astronomical Zoo, Scale of the Universe, & the Celestial Sphere

Unit 3:  Annual Motion of the Sun & Seasons

Unit 4:  Moon Phases & Eclipses

Unit 5:  Planetary Motions & Historical Astronomy

Unit 6:  Universal Gravitation, Tides, Orbits & Black Holes

Unit 7:  Light & Telescopes

Unit 8:  Spectra, Atomic Structure, and the Structure of Stars

Unit 9:  The Sun as a Star

Unit 10: Life Cycles of Stars

Unit 11: The Structure of the Milky Way Galaxy

Unit 12: The Structure, History, and Future of the Universe

Unit 13: The Solar System

Summary of the Briefing:

In response to the need to create science electives since the science course sequence changed over the past year (Biology, Chemistry, Physics AND/OR electives), the department is proposing several semester and year-long courses to offer students so that they continue building their science knowledge in high school.  Astronomy is one of these electives. 

Key Points of the Briefing: 

1. This course will offer an alternative to Physics for students who would like to continue learning and applying their science knowledge in their junior and senior years.
2. Junior and senior high school students will be challenged to complete original research that is characteristic of college-level science courses. Under the guidance of a BHS science teacher, students will generate a research question, conduct a literature review, collaborate with content-area experts, develop a hypothesis, collect and analyze data, and present original research at the annual Connecticut State Science Fair in the spring.
3. The course objectives for Science Research are:

• Students will be able to read, understand, and evaluate current science research.
• Students will be able to perform a literature review on a specific science topic.
• Students will be able to apply the scientific method to pose a question, develop a hypothesis, collect and analyze data, and draw conclusions.
• Students will be able present his or her finding in a professional and collegial manner.
• Students will be able to evaluate the limitations of his or her experiment and make modifications after judging.

1. Introduction to Library Databases for finding current science research.
2. A review of current science topics
3. Development of a problem statement
4. Connecting with an expert in the field of study
5. Creation of a literature review
6. Development of a hypothesis
7. Development of a procedure
8. Running the experiment
9. Data Collection and statistical analysis
10. Drawing conclusions based upon the results obtained
11. Developing a limitations to the study
12. Creation of a presentation
13. Presentation of findings at CT State Science Fair
14. Evaluation of further studies
15. Peer review of projects

Summary of the Briefing:

Science Research is a course that allows students to stand out from their peers during the college application process and should be taken by students who wish to pursue scientific fields after high school.  Many schools offer this as a way to prepare students not only for college science work, but also for the Connecticut Science Fairs. 

Key Points of the Briefing: 

1. Junior and senior high school students will be able to elect this semester course and increase their knowledge of techniques and strategies used by forensic scientists.  Students will learn how to analyze a crime scene in order to provide evidence that will be admissible in a court of law.  Topics covered are collecting evidence, fingerprinting, blood-typing, ballistics, trace evidence, anthropology, and DNA. 
2. Students will gain a thorough understanding of forensics and its applications by:

• Strengthening science literacy skills through science writing and reading that emphasizes evidence;
• Building on and applying fundamental science skills from biology and chemistry to real life applications and processes;
• Developing and strengthening student appreciation for the investigative process through inquiry and problem-based learning;
• Discovering potential career opportunities in the field of forensic science.

 The following units will be covered in Forensic Science:

 Unit 1: Processing the crime scene (1 month)

• History of forensic investigations
• Legal issue related to crime scenes
• Proper handing and safety

 Unit 2: Biological Evidence (2 months)

• DNA and DNA processing
• Blood stains, splattering, and heredity
• Bones and their structure
• Entomology and the relationship between bug life cycles and crime scenes
• Processing Biological evidence

 Unit 3: Physical Evidence (1.5 months)

• Fibers, inks, and dyes
• Drugs
• Processing physical evidence

 Unit 4: Return to the crime scene and final project (2 weeks)

• Processing and drawing evidence based conclusions
• Evaluations and Final

 Summary of the Briefing:

In response to the need to create science electives since the science course sequence changed over the past year (Biology, Chemistry, Physics OR electives), the department is proposing several semester and year-long courses to offer students so that they continue building their science knowledge in high school.  Forensic Science is one of these electives. 

Key Points of the Briefing: 

This semester course is for students who would like to continue learning and applying their science knowledge in their junior and senior years.

This course will develop students’ scientifically-based understanding of the physiological, genetic, behavioral, social, and cultural factors that support health and wellness.  . 

The course objectives for Exercise Science are:

• Understand various challenges to human health and wellness, including an understanding of health risks.
• Describe health promotion and illness prevention through study of nutrition, fitness, stress management, or other action strategies.
• Develop personal goals and programs for health and wellness using knowledge based upon principles from epidemiology, nutrition, kinesiology and other health sciences.
• Understand the human anatomy and physiology of movement.
• Know the careers related to the study of exercise science: athletic training, personal training, occupational therapy, physical therapy, strength and conditioning coaching, and teaching physical education.

The following units will be covered in Exercise Science:

 Unit 1:  Muscular Anatomy and Physiology

Unit 2:  Respiratory System Anatomy and Physiology

Unit 3:  Circulatory System Anatomy and Physiology

Unit 4:  Neurobiology of Sport/Competition

Unit 5:  Nutrition for Healthy Living

Summary of the Briefing:

In response to the need to create science electives since the science course sequence changed over the past year (Biology, Chemistry, Physics AND/OR electives), the department is proposing several semester and year-long courses to offer students so that they continue building their science knowledge in high school.  Exercise Science is one of these electives.